Print Culture

Q1. What is meant by the print revolution? Explain its significance.

Answer

The printing of books started at a large scale after the invention of new printing technology. This was
called the Print Revolution.

Significance:

(i) With the printing press, a new reading public emerged.

(ii) Printing reduced the cost of books.

(iii) Books flooded the market, reaching out to an ever growing readership.

Q2. How had the earliest printing technology developed in the world? Explain with examples.

Answer

(i) The earliest kind of print technology was developed in China, Japan and Korea which was a system
of hand printing.

(ii) Buddhist missionaries from China introduced hand-printing technology into Japan.

(iii) It was Marco Polo, a great explorer brought printing knowledge of woodblock from China to
Italy.

Q3. What was an “Accordion Book”? Describe any two features of hand printing in China.

Answer

'Accordion Book' is a traditional Chinese book, folded and stitched at the side.

(i) Chinese Accordion Books were hand printed. They were printed by rubbing paper against the
inked surface of wooden blocks.

(ii) As both sides of the thin, porous sheet would not be printed, the traditional Chinese ‘Accordion
Book’ was folded and stitched at the side.

(iii) These Accordion Books could be duplicated by superbly-skilled craftsmen with remarkable
accuracy, the beauty of calligraphy.

Q4. How did Johann Gutenberg develop the first printing press?

Answer

(i) From his childhood, Gutenberg had seen wine and olive presses. Subsequently, he learnt the art of
polishing stones, became a master goldsmith, and also acquired the expertise to create lead moulds
used for making trinkets.

(ii) Drawing on this knowledge, Gutenberg adapted existing technology to design his innovation. The
olive press provided the model for the printing press, and moulds were used for casting the metal
types for the letters of the alphabet.

(iii) By 1448, Gutenberg perfected the system. The first book printed by him was the Bible.
Q5. How did Martin Luther’s writing bring reforms in the religious field? Explain.

Answer

(i) Martin Luther wrote Ninety Five Theses criticising the malpractices in the Roman Catholic Church.
He posted a printed copy of it on the door of a church in Wittenberg.

(ii) Luther’s writings immediately became popular through printed copies and was read widely.

(iii) 5000 printed copies of Luther’s translation of the New Testament were sold in a week.

(iv) All these led to a religious debate and marked the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.

(v) Printing technology played a key role in bringing religious reforms in the 16th century. Hence
Martin Luther's remarks were apt, effective and practical.

Q6. Evaluate the impact of print technology on the poor people in India.
Answer:
Impact of Print on the poor. Very cheap books were brought to markets in 19th century Madras
towns and sold at crossroads, allowing poor people travelling to markets to buy them. Public libraries
were set up from the early 20th century, expanding access to books.
From the late 19th century, issues of caste discrimination began to be written about in many printed
tracts and essays:

1. Jyotiba Phule, the Maratha pioneer of Tow caste’ protest movements, wrote about the
injustices of the caste system in his Gulamgiri (1871). B.R. Ambedkar in Maharashtra and E.V.
Ramaswamy Naicker in Madras, better known as Periyar, wrote powerfully on caste and their
writings were read by people all over India.

2. A mill worker at Kanpur called Kashibaba, wrote and published Chhote Aur Bade Ka Sawal in
1930 to show the links between caste and class exploitation. Bangalore Cotton Mill workers
set up libraries to educate themselves following the example of Bombay workers.

Q7. “Print not only stimulated the publication of conflicting opinions amongst communities, but it
also connected communities and people in different parts of India.” Examine the statement.
Answer:

 By the close of the eighteenth century, a number of newspapers and journals appeared in
print. The first newspaper to come out was the weekly Bengal Gazette, brought out by
Gangadhar Bhattacharya.

 Printed tracts and newspapers not only spread new ideas, but they also shaped the nature of
debate. A wider public could now participate in public discussions and express their views.

 There were intense controversies between the social and religious reformers and Hindu
orthodoxy over matters like widow immolation, monotheism, Brahmanical priesthood and
idolatry. So that these ideas and thoughts could reach a wider audience, newspapers were
printed in the spoken language of ordinary people.

 Rammohan Roy published the Sambad Kaumudi from 1821 and the Hindu orthodoxy
commissioned the Samachar Chandrika to oppose his opinions. Two Persian newspapers,
Jam-i-Jahan Nama and Shamsul Akhbar were also published.
  After the collapse of Muslim dynasties Ulama feared that colonial rulers would change the
Muslim personal laws. To counter this they published Persian and Urdu translations of holy
scriptures and printed religious newspapers and tracts.

 Newspapers and journals not only helped the publication of conflicting opinions but also
connected people and communities in different parts of India. Newspapers conveyed news
from one place to another, creating Pan-Indian identities.

Q8. What do you understand by ‘visual culture’ and its role in printing in India?
Answer:

1. By the end of 19th century, a new visual culture had started.

2. Increasing number of printing presses helped in the production of visual images and
reproduced them in multiple copies.

3. Painters like Raja Ravi Varma helped in producing images for mass circulation.

4. Cheap prints and calendars were easily available in markets and could be bought even by the
poor to decorate the walls of their homes or workplaces. These prints helped in developing
popular ideas about modernity and tradition, religion and politics and society and culture.

Q9. I n which three ways did the printed books at first closely resemble the written manuscripts?
Answer:
The printed books at first closely resembled the written manuscripts in appearance and layout. The
metal letters initiated the ornamental handwritten styles.

Borders were illuminated were by hand with foliage and patterns and illustrations painted.

In the books printed for the rich, space for decoration was kept blank on the printed page for the
purchaser to choose the design and the painting school that would do the illustration.

Q10. Highlight any three innovations which have improved the printing technology from nineteenth
century onwards.
Answer:
Three innovations which have improved the printing technology from nineteenth century onwards:

1. Methods of feeding paper improved.

2. The quality of printing plates became better.

3. Automatic paper reels and photoelectric controls of the colour register were introduced.

4. The accumulation of several individual mechanical improvements transformed the